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Best Universities in USA 2026 - Times Higher Education Ranking

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Best Universities in USA 2026 - Times Higher Education Ranking

Times Higher Education's best universities in USA 2026

The Times Higher Education Rankings of the Best Universities in the USA include a variety of universities, among which there are 181 best universities and colleges in the world. Wherever you want to study in the United States, the best university is not far away: almost all states and about 130 cities are on the list of the best American universities.

Higher education institutions at the top of the ranking are focused on popular areas of study; the top five are based in California and Massachusetts.

Prestigious American universities offer quality undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, internship, and graduate programs. Prestigious private universities in the United States allow you to get useful contacts in the chosen professional field, but the cost of studying is high, and the competition for admission is very high.

Public universities are cheaper, but this does not mean that the quality of education will always be lower, although they do not provide a selective environment.

Foreign students enter leading American universities after providing a certificate of 12-year secondary education, undergo special studying Advanced Placement, Pathway or International Foundation programs, and take the TOEFL test, which confirms knowledge of English.

Times Higher Education's best universities in USA 2026

US rank 2024	World University Rank 2024	World University Rank 2023	University	City	State
1	2	=3	Stanford University	Stanford	California
2	3	5	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	Cambridge	Massachusetts
3	4	2	Harvard University	Cambridge	Massachusetts
4	6	7	Princeton University	Princeton	New Jersey
5	7	6	California Institute of Technology (Caltech)	Pasadena	California
6	9	8	University of California, Berkeley (UCB)	Berkeley	California
7	10	9	Yale University	New Haven	Connecticut
8	13	13	University of Chicago	Chicago	Illinois
9	15	15	Johns Hopkins University	Baltimore	Maryland
10	16	14	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania
11	17	=11	Columbia University	New York City	New York
12	18	21	University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)	Los Angeles	California
13	20	20	Cornell University	Ithaca	New York
14	23	23	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	Ann Arbor	Michigan
15	24	28	Carnegie Mellon University	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania
16	25	=26	University of Washington	Seattle	Washington
17	26	25	Duke University	Durham	North Carolina
18	27	24	New York University (NYU)	New York City	New York
19	28	=26	Northwestern University	Evanston	Illinois
20	34	32	University of California, San Diego (UCSD)	San Diego	California
21	36	38	Georgia Institute of Technology	Atlanta	Georgia
22	42	48	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	Champaign	Illinois
23	52	50	University of Texas at Austin	Austin	Texas
24	59	63	University of California, Davis	Davis	California
25	63	81	University of Wisconsin-Madison	Madison	Wisconsin
26	=64	61	Brown University	Providence	Rhode Island
27	68	57	Washington University in St. Louis	St Louis	Missouri
28	69	64	University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)	Santa Barbara	California
29	72	69	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill	Chapel Hill	North Carolina
30	74	65	University of Southern California	Los Angeles	California
31	78	=71	Boston University	Boston	Massachusetts
32	85	=101	University of Minnesota	Minneapolis	Minnesota
33	86	127	Purdue University West Lafayette	West Lafayette	Indiana
=34	=92	=95	University of California, Irvine	Irvine	California
=34	=92	98	Vanderbilt University	Nashville	Tennessee
36	=99	112	The Ohio State University	Columbus	Ohio
37	=106	=82	Emory University	Atlanta	Georgia
38	114	=104	University of Maryland, College Park	College Park	Maryland
39	=116	106	Michigan State University	East Lansing	Michigan
40	118	181	Texas A&M University	College Station	Texas
41	=119	147	Rice University	Houston	Texas
42	122	=151	Penn State (Main campus)	State College	Pennsylvania
43	=123	191	University of Massachusetts	Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, Worcester	Massachusetts
44	132	=151	University of Florida	Gainesville	Florida
45	133	154	University of Rochester	Rochester	New York
46	=138	=148	University of Colorado Boulder	Boulder	Colorado
47	=145	144	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania
48	=155	180	University of Arizona	Tucson	Arizona
49	=161	123	Dartmouth College	Hanover	New Hampshire
50	=164	134	Case Western Reserve University	Cleveland	Ohio

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